906-127
August 20, 2004
After
the panels are fit, they are attached with ounce and 1/2 mat
strips.
At Porsche,
they didn't quite take the time we do installing these panels.
They didn't need to because these were throw away race cars.
Today, it's a different story. These babies are worth their
weight in gold so we try to do a little nicer job than original.
The tape
borders the mat straps which are only for positioning, not
for resin detail.
Andy and
I are in a tag team. He is smearing cabosil on the bottom
side of the tube because it strengthens the bond between the
floor and the tube (Porsche didn't do this). This can't be
seen so we get away with it. The reason we do this is because
if you stand near a patch on an original floorboard, the bond
between the patch and the floor would separate, then the floor
would become loose to the chassis. It is a lot more difficult
for this to happen with the cabosil applied.
When the
tape is removed and the material has cured, we sand and paint
before the body is installed.
The dixie
cups are full of lead shot which keeps the panel flat during
the bonding process. You can see that anytime we build one
of these prototypes, the car is always sitting on 3/4"
finished plywood (cabinet grade). This keeps all of our fiberglass
laminations flat.
The finishing
touches and then paint.
Andy has
sanded the complete cockpit with 220 grit paper and is applying
the gray paint.
We do
this before the body is attached because we can. The other
option is to crawl inside the car (after the body is attached)
and kill our necks, backs, butts...you get the picture. Next
week we'll show you the body installation.
<<<
Previous Update | Next Update
>>